Highways England to remove miles of roadworks in time for Christmas

Highways England is preparing to lift and complete hundreds of miles of roadworks this week in time for the Christmas getaway.

Almost 400 miles of roadworks across England will be lifted and completed in December, leaving almost 99 per cent of motorways and strategic A roads roadworks-free in time for Christmas.

All roadworks will be lifted or completed by 6am on 22 December until 12.01am on 2 January to help people get away this Christmas with as little disruption as possible.

With the festive countdown well and truly underway, the UK’s largest coach operator National Express, has praised Highways England for its role in helping people get to their destination on time.

Chris Hardy, national express coach managing director, said: “We’ll be moving hundreds of thousands of passengers around the UK during the festive period, including on Christmas and Boxing Day when there are no rail services; and New Year’s Day.”

“We work with Highways England round the year to support them in maintaining and improving the road network so that we can offer our customers a reliable and convenient service.

“It’s great that they’ve lifted road works during a busy time for travel, helping us to make sure we can get passengers where they want to be for Christmas.”

Highways England has also launched a special festive animation which shows Santa carrying out vital checks to his sleigh before embarking on the most important journey of the year - and he’s got a little help from his festive friends including Rudolph.
Some of Santa’s pre-flight checks include checking that there is plenty of grip on his sledge – motorists should check their tyre tread to make sure it is within the legal limit.

It also includes making sure Rudolph’s nose is shining bright – always make sure lights on the vehicle are working correctly before setting off, and making sure the reindeer are full of fuel before travelling  – make sure that you always keep your tank at least one quarter full to avoid running out of fuel on your journey.

The animation can be found online at the Highways England YouTube channel.